Inclose combustion-engine.



G. FORNACA.

. INCLOSED COMBUSTION ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 8, I913.

Patented July 4, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET I wai I G. FORNACA.

'INCLOSED COMBUSTION ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED mm. ms.

1,190,254. Patented July 4, 1916.

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G. FORNACA.

tNCLOSED comsusnou ENGINE.

APPLICATION HLED APR. 6, 191a.

Patented July 4,

4 SHEETS-SHEET a I wwwtoa; 3% I W 07441 I unrrnn STATES PATENT once.

sumo nominee, or 'IURIN, ITALY, Assronon TO I. I. '12, A CORPORATION or r NEW YORK.

INCLOSED COMBUSTION-ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Original application filed January 5, 1911, Serial No. 600,854. Divided and this application filed April 8,

1913. Serial No. 759,628.

To allwhom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GUIDo FoRNAoA, a subject of the King of Italy, residing at Turin, Province of Piedmont, Italy, have "invented certain new and useful Improve-' ments in Inclosed Combustlon-Engmes, of

which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification. 1

This invention relates to inclosed combustion engines and has especial reference to improvements in the construction and arrange- As commonly arranged, an automobile en-' gine comprises not only the engine itself consisting of one or more cylinders and a crank shaft, but also a magneto, Water jackets for the cylinders, pumps for circulating the water through the Water jackets and feeding oil to the bearings, controlling devices for' regulating the charge and the timing of the explosions, and supporting means for the various parts.

The principal object of the invention is to provide an engine construction wherein exposed moving parts will be entirely eliminated, and external piping and other parts reduced'as much as possible thereby protecting the moving parts, rendering the operation of the engine noiseless, and simplifying its external appearance.

The invention has for another object to providev an improved .engine construction having improved means for directing andproportioning the circulation of the Water to the various cylinders, and also for insuring an equal supply of heated combustible "charge to the various cylinders.

The invention with respect to the various parts thereof will be more fully understood in connect-ion with the description of the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is an elevation/seen from the left, of an engine embodying the invention; Fig. 2 is a sectional View showing the interior of the engine; Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section through one of the forward cylinders; and Fig. at is an end elevation partly insection showing the arrangement of the various parts.

1 represents the frame of the maclnne, 2

the radiator, supported near the bottom by trunnions 3 and flexibly supported at the top as through the hose coupling'et leading from the water jacket outlet pipe 5.

6 is the radiator discharge pipe leading" to the pump casing 7 formed in the base 30, and discharging by pipe 8 intothe lower front portion of the Water jacket casing 9.

The water enters the Water jacket casing in a transverse direction at the lower front portion, and strikes the side of the exhaust pipe 12. This divides the stream, causing one part to pass over the pipe 12 and transversely around and over the front cylinder, The bottom portion of valve chamber, etc. the stream flows transversely under the exhaustv pipe 12 and around the lower portions of the cylinders. At the same time, some of the stream flows longitudinally on the valve side around exhaust pipe 12 (Which is spaced from the bottom of the Water jacket, as seen in Fig. 3),'and consequently, the entire cylinder casting .will be equally cooled, including the exhaust pipe 12, the inlet manifold pipe 11, the'valve chambers 21, 2 5, the cylinder heads, etc. This prevents strain in the casting by reason of unequal temperatures various parts. The Water flows outward from the casting at the rear end through a port 13 into a passage 14 formed in the removable Water jacket cover 15. At the forward end, the cover passage 14 is connected with the radiator inlet pipe 5 in the usual manner. If desired, more than one port 13 may be provided. By this arrangement, the cylinder casting is cooled uniformly and thereby strains avoided, and also external piping is largely eliminated, as but a single short pipe connects tl e forwa'rd end of the casting to the radiator. In order to further direct the flow of Water around the various cylinders, including their heads, the inlet pipe 11 and exhaust pipe 12, balile plates are provided Within the jacket, as for instance 18 in Fig. 2, and 19 in Fig. 3, these bafile plates also acting as strengthening ribs between the cylinders and the Water jacket. The charge inlet pipe 11 is herein shown as entering the casing on the right hand side at about the middle of the cas ing', passing between the second and third cylinders, and thence branching in opposite divalve 22 for the first and second cylinders, and the third and fourth cylinders, respectively. The mixing chamber 111 communicates with the pipe 113, connected to pipe 11, the charge admitted to the cylinders being regulated by a throttle valve controlled by the lever arm 123. The exhaust valves 24 open from their respective cylinders into exhaust valve chambers 25, which open into the exhaust passage 12 (see Fig. 3), which is surrounded by water space.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the inlet manifold is so arranged as to cause the charge to be heated by the water jacket before it enters the cylinder, and the common exhaust pipe is also within thewater jacket and the exhaust cooled before leaving the engine. It will also be seen that the respective valve chamhers are within the water jacket, and that consequently all parts of the cylinders are kept at an equal temperature. This is important in an engine of this type wherein the cylinders are cast in one piece, since otherwise injurious strains would be set up, which might cause breakage. In order to secure this even temperature of all parts of the cylinder, the flow of water to the various cylindersis )roportioned, and also directed, so that al parts will receive a proper amount of water from the pump.

The cylinder casti: g, open at the bottom, is mounted on a. base 30, having holes therethrough for the various connecting rods, the base having transverse arms 31 at each end which are fastened to the frame in the usual manner. The crank shaft 32 carries a flywheel at the rear end and is mounted to be turned by starting crank 3% to start the engine in the usual manner. The crank shaft is what is known as a three bearing crank shaft; that is, it has a bearing 35 at each end, and an intermediate bearing 36 between the pairs of cylinders, it being understood that the invention is not restricted to a motor having four cylinders, nor to any particular number of bearings. The base 30 is constructed to withstand the strains from the crank shaft and carries complete the bearings 35, and also the other bearings and shafts. In order to protect the crank shaft, a crank case or bottom cover 37 is detachably secured to the bottom of the base as by bolts 30- and this crank case is formed to provide an oil reservoir which can be filled through pipe 38 and fronrthc bottom of which the oil is taken by pipe 39 to an oil pump ll). (See Fig. 1). From the oil pipe a suitable oil duct leads through an oil gage ll, and thence through a valve controlled by pin 4'2 to the various parls of the engine including the cylinders and the crank shaft bearings. In order to make the cxlcrnal oil ducts as few as possible, and thereby avoid push a multiplicity of pipe connections, the base is formed at one side with oil duct &5, which is connected with the bearings and 36 through tubes in the struts -17, at the ends and middle of the base casting. By this arrangement, a proportionate supply of oil is supplied to the various bearings according t the speed of the engine, and also it will be seen that the pistons, crank pins and hearings will be lubricated by the splash from the oil contained in the detachable crank case.

I will not describe the arrangement and ope 'ation of the shafting system in this invention, whereby accessibility of the various parts necessary to be included is secured and also compactness and simplicity in arrangement obtained. It is desirable to sim' plify and reduce the external parts of an engine as much as possible, and to enable the absolutely essential external parts to be accessible and capable of being removed where necessary. This is especially desirable of the magneto, which should be accessible and removable with the least amount of trouble, and the external appear ance of the engine is improved by removing the manifold pipes. the oil feeds, and whatever other parts possible, or casing them so that they will not be subject to damage or dis-arrangcmcnt. With these objects in view, I propose to mount the magneto at one; end of the engine, preferably the front, and to arrange its driving shaft transversely of the engine, the water pump preferably bciiig on the other end. As herein shown, I have mounted the oil pump at the rear end of the half speed cam shaft. whiclrlaitcr Shaft operates both sols oi valves, and is also provided with means for shifting certain valves when the engine is at rest to relieve the compression. and thereby permit the engine lo bc llll)l'=.(:l.\ll cranked.

The crank shal'l t carries at its forward end a gear 5U which nil-shes with a gear 51 splincd to the end of "am shaft 512, the scar 51 having a front la-aring' 53. At the center of the base casting ill) the cam shaft has ori linary bearings bl. Rigid with lhe cam 52 is a worm pinion 35 which meshes with a similar pinion 56 carried by a transverse shaft 57 (see Figs. 2 and 4), this shaft 57 having a thrust bearing journalcd in the iorward end ot the base casting 30. The

gear 51 is twice the diameter of gear 50, so that the cam shaft- 52 will be driven at one half of lhe speed of the crank shaft 32, and the pinion 55 is twicc the diameter of pinion 56, so that shaft 57 will be driven at the same speed as the main shall 32. though of course any other ratio could be cinployod 60 represents the magneto which is lul'ciu shown as mounted on the right forward corner of the base 30 imnu-diatcly adjacent the intone;

forward cylinder, and it is connected to be driven by shaft 57.through a universal or Oldham coupling 61. From the distributer 62 the wires 63 lead to the corresponding spark plugs 64 of the various cylinders, the wires being carried in the conduit 65 supported on the cover or in any other suitable manner. From the engine casting or separate spark plugs the usual return connection to the magneto is provided. The shaft 57 as will be seen from Fig. 4, is supported by webs 66 cast in the base 30, the center web also extending down to support the end bearing 35 for the main shaft, the

base being extended to form a cover inclosing the pinions 55, 56. At the opposite end of the shaft 57, there is mounted in a. bearing hanger 68, carried by the base 30, a pump shaft 69, connected atone end with the shaft 57 and at the other end having the pump rotor 70 revolving in the pump casing 71. The pump casing 71 is connected with the discharge pipe 6 leading from the radiator and peripherally discharges the water into pipe 8, connected as before stated to the water jacket. The innerend of the shaft 52 is splined to a block 83 on the oil pump shaft 84:, the oil pump comprising apair of meshing gears'85 rotating in the oil pump casing 40 and operating to-draw oil from pipe89 and force it through oil ducts aforesaid to gage 41, and thence to the various bearings.

Tt will be seen that'all of the valves and valve lifts are on one side of the engine and the valves are in the over-hanging top portion thereof with the valve springs 87, and

' the valve" lift guides and adjusting devices 88 below the overhanging portion. The base any heretofore used has been adjusting devices, order to close this box,

30 on the valve side is provided with a shoulder 89, and the underside of the top of the engine casting with a similar shoulder 90. Ateach; end of the cylinder casting 9 below thwater jacket, and on the valve side, are outwardly extending walls 92, which Walls extend outwardly a sufficient distance to form withthe base and the casting the top, bottom, sides and back of a box within which all of the valvelifts, springs, and valve lift will be contained. In a removable cover 95, fastened by a bolt 96,"tapp'ed into the engine casting is provided, and thereby the entire box containing the valve elements completely inclosed. This box may be packed with grease, so that all of the moving valve parts will be completely incased and the noise heretofore incidentto exposed valvev lifts completely avoided. This isan im-' portant feature of the invention and thereby a motor much more silent in operation than obtained.

It will be seen that an engine constructed according to this invention will have no exposed moving parts, such as gears, cams, valve lifts etc., and that there will be a lubricated and-also protected from cooling herein shown is a base portion supporting the her.

all valves on one minimum number of external pipes, inasmuch as inlet and exhaust manifolds are shown, there is not only a considerable re- 1 duction in the noise of operation, but the valve liftsand springs are more efliciently dust and dirt, and do not wear so fast. By means of the crank shaft suspension herein described,

wherein the crank shaft is suspended from the base, the oil pan or reservoir can be easily removed independently of the crank shaft and without affecting the operation of the engine. Also, the crank shaft can be taken out in a very simple manner by dropping it after the lower cover has been removed, which is an advantage.

The construction of inlet and exhaust manifolds herein disclosed is not claimed broadly herein, being claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 533,554, filed December 17, 1909,

claimed in my copending application, Serial No. 600,854, filed January 5,1911, of which cation is a division, While the arrangement of gearing shown herein driving the auxiliary shafts is claimed in Patent No. 1,146,788, issued July 20, 1915, upon application, Serial No. 795,627, filed coincidentally with this application and also a division of said application, Serial. No.v

Various modifications and changes may be made in the specific construction described without departing from the scope of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a combustion engine, a plurality of cylinders cast in a block and having'an overhang in which valve seats are located, guides for the lifts of the valves in said seats, end walls forming with said overhang and said base a chamber for the valve lifts, shouln ders on said casting on the edge of said the casting and adapted to fit against said shoulders to completely close the said cham- 2. A combustion engine comprising a plurality of cylinders .cast in a block having side, an overhang containthis appliwhile the system of ing seats for said valves and a Water jacket,

a base portion carrying guides for the valve lifts, shoulders formed on said overhang and said base portion outside said valve lifts and valve seats, and a cover plate engaging said shoulders to completely close the said chamher.

3. An inclosed combustion engine comprising at least four integrally east cylin ders and a water jacket, one side of said casting having an overhang provided within said water jacket with valve seats, a water inlet opening into the lower portion of said water jacket adjacent one end, a water outlet at the top of said jacket adjacent the same end, a single charge inlet and a single exhaust outlet opening through said water jacket into said cylinders through said valve seats, a base supporting said cylinders and projecting laterally bclow said overhang to carry valve actuating devices, an end wall carried by each end cylinder extending between said overhang and said base, and removable inclosing means fitting between said overhang and said base and between said end Walls, whereby the gas and water passages and valve mechanisms are con'ipletely inclosed.

4. An incloscd combustion engine co1nprising at least four integrally cast cylinders and a water jacket, one side of said casting having an overhang provided with in said water jacket with valve seats, a water inlet opening into the lower portion of said water jacket, a water outlet carried by a removable cover at the top of said jacket, a single charge inlet on the opposite side from said overhang opening through said water jacket into said cylinders through said valve seats, means for exhaust ing the gases from the cylinders, a base supporting said cylinders and projecting laterally below said overhang to carry valve actuating devices, an end wall nu'ried by each end cylinder extending between said overhang and said base, andreinovable inclosing means lilting between said overhang and said end walls, whereby the charge and water passages and valve mechanisms are completely incloscd. r

In testimony whereof I ailix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

G I l DO FOR NAOA.

\Vitnesses:

.lociqLYN GLouln-iymx, PnAtrI rhmo, 

